Rapid transit seating

ABSTRACT

A cantilever seat frame is provided with parallel wall, aisle and intermediate rails curved at an intermediate area to provide vertically inclined back portions and forwardly extending horizontal seat portions, the wall rail being apertured to receive wall fastening elements, the rails being connected at top and bottom portions by cross members, diagonal braces connecting the rails, and seat and back cushions carried by said seat and back rail portions.

United States atet Barecki et al. 1 1 June 5 1973 [54] RAP) TRANSIT SEATKNG 3,619,006 11 1971 Barecki ..297 450 [75] Inventors: Chester J. Barecki; Alexander A.

p both of Grand Rapids Primary ExammerC asm1r A. Nunberg Mich Attorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lungmus [73] Assignee: American Seating Company, Grand [57] ABSTRACT Rap1ds, Mich. A cantilever seat frame is provided with parallel wall, [22] Flled: June 1971 aisle and intermediate rails curved at an intermediate [21] A l M 157,345 area to provide vertically inclined back portions and forwardly extending horizontal seat portions, the wall [52] U S Cl 297/450 297/445 297/457 rail being apertured to receive wall fastening elements, [51] A437: 7/00 7/14 the rails being connected at top and bottom portions [58] Field of Search ..297/445 450 451 by members diagonal braces cmmecfing the 297/455 rails, and seat and back cushions carried by said seat and back rail portions.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1971 Barecki ..297/451 8 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 5 ms SHEET 1 OF 6 INVENTORS Chester J. Bcrecki Alexander A. Korrip BY @muwmcfllflsm 701%1) Mob .5

W ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJUH 5l975 3.737.198

sum 2 [1F 6 INVENTOR4-S Chester J. Burecki Alexander A. Korrip BY @mmozltom 721% PATENTEDJUH sms 3.737.198 SHEET 3 OF 6 INVENTQRS Chester J. Bcrecki Alexander A. Korrip BY Zalmv 5 ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJUH 191s 3.737.198

SHEET u 0F 6 IHIHIH 7 FIG 9 INVENTORS Chester d. Borecki J Alexander A. Karrip BY @QWWCZLM,7ZZM

5 3 ATTORNEYS PATENTEUJUH 5 I975 SHEET 5 OF 6 INVENTORS Chester J. Borecki Alexander A. Korrip sv aw-umzczlzfism,za%1v ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJUN :915 I 3.737.198

SHEET 5 [1F 6 INVENTORS Chester J. Borecki Alexander A. Karrip BY @awumvcflftmv, Fallow amt [3 ATTORNEYS RAPID TRANSIT SEATING BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY If a transit seat can be effectively suspended along one side so that the main body projects freely over the floor of the vehicle, it is possible to effect cleaning of the vehicle in a minimum of time and also providing ample leg room and storage space. We have discovered that an effective suspension of the seat from one end thereof can be accomplished through the use of seat and aisle rails in combination with a central or intermediate rail, the rails being connected together by cross members and being curved at an intermediate point to provide back and seat portions. By utilizing parallel diagonal straps or braces between the rails and by anchoring the wall rail at its top and also along its seat portion, an effective suspension of the seat is brought about. The aisle rail may be further reinforced by an arm rest anchored to upper and lower portions of the rail, and the wall rail may be provided with bushings to further reinforce the rail for receiving the wall fastening elements. The frame also provides means for anchoring a plastic shell to which the seat and back cushions may be secured.

DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings,

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a two-passenger cantilever transverse seat with an aisle arm rest, the view being taken from the aisle side;

FIG. 2, a rear perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3, a front perspective view similar to FIG. 1 but without the aisle arm rest;

FIG. 4, a rear perspective view similar to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5, a front perspective view of the tubular steel frame of the cantilever seat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6, a rear perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 5, as seen from the wall side to show the three wall mounting apertures;

FIG. 7, a top plan view of the steel frame shown in FIG. 5 with the two diagonal braces formed of plate material and extending from the top of the side rails below the tangent point of the curve of the center and aisle rail members;

FIG. 8, a sectional view of the seat near the center and through the seat pad and back pad to show the fastenings for the seat pad and back pad, the shell secured to the frame, and showing also the fastening elements for anchoring the wall rail to the wall of the vehicle;

FIG. 9, a broken sectional view of the edge of the wall side of the frame and shell to show how the wall rail may be attached to the vehicle wall;

FIG. 10, a broken perspective view of the aisle side rail to show the attachment of the arm rest;

FIG. 11, a broken view of the aisle arm rest as seen from the rear wall position, showing the two attachment bolts in phantom as well as the two weld units as they are secured to the frame side wall;

FIG. 12, a front perspective view of a single passenger longitudinal seat which is also of a cantilever type, the shell being shown as a two-piece structure with a separate seat shell and back shell; and

FIG. 13, a front perspective view of the structure shown in FIG. 12 with the cushion omitted and showing the four wall attachment points.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In general, we have provided a cantilever seat adapted to be suspended from one side upon a vehicle side wall and comprising a frame having a wall rail, an aisle rail and an intermediate or central rail, each of the rails having a generally vertical back portion and being curved to provide a forwardly extending, generally horizontal seat portion. Cross members connect the upper portions of the rails and the lower portions of the rails, the wall rail being apertured to receive elements for attachment to the vehicle wall. A diagonal brace extends from the upper portion of the wall rail downwardly to a lower portion of the central or intermediate rail, while a diagonal brace extends also from an upper portion of the intermediate or central rail downwardly to a lower portion of the aisle rail. A plastic shell is anchored to the frame and carries seat and back portions.

Referring to the drawings, the seat 20 has a one-piece contoured plastic shell 21, with seat pads 22, back pads 23, back panel 24, and a grab rail 25, held together by a tubular steel or metal frame 26. The frame may be braced 0n the aisle side by an arm rest 27, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or the seat may be an armless seat 28, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The tubular steel frame 26, as shown best in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, may be formed of a rectangular or square steel tubing, which consists of a front cross tube or member 29 called the front stretcher member and a center cross tube 30 or rear stretcher member which is lower in the center to pass under the central rail 31 and to allow ample room for the seat buckets 21a, as shown in FIG. 8. The frame also comprises an aisle side rail 32, a wall side rail 33 with its three shoulder bushings 34 to hold the wall attachment elements, an upper cross tube or member 35, and an extra support tube 36 spanning the space between the front cross tube 29 and the center cross tube 30 on the aisle side of the frame. A hand rail or grab rail 25 may be formed of round tubing and bent in a curve with its ends projecting into the opened ends of the side rails 32 and 33 and welded in place. Two diagonal braces 37 and 38 which may be made of plate steel are placed between a side rail and the center or intermediate rail 40. Their bottom ends 39 can extend below the tangent point or the curve in the rail, and the lower portion is curved slightly to align with the curve of the rail.

As shown in FIG. 9, a shoulder bushing 34 is placed into each hole in the wall rail 33 so that the shoulder 41 of the bushing rests against the outer rail 42 of the tube 33, while the end face 43 of the bushing rests against the inner wall 44 of the tube for maximum strength without danger of deforming the tube when nut 45 is tightened on the bolt stud 46 which has a shoulder 47 pressing against the outside surface 48 of the tube 33. The bolt stud 46 is adapted to be inserted into the wall support and to be anchored to a wall anchor (not shown) in the vehicle wall.

As shown in FIG. 8, there are three shoulder bushings 34 for attaching the seat to the wall, pop rivets 49 on the side, and one pop rivet 50 on the upper edge for attaching the plastic shell to the tubular frame, and screws 51 are shown for attaching the back panel to the frame. Near each corner of the seat pad and back pad, there is a weld nut 52 attached to the thin metal inner liner 53 into which a screw 54 is inserted through the plastic shell. A pad consists of a thin metal inner liner 53, a slab of foam material 55, and an upper upholstery panel 56 glued to the inner panel along its edges 57.

As shown in FIGS. and 11, the arm rest tube 27 is flattened at each end 58 and a right angle bend 59 is made at each end, far enough away from the end to allow ample room for the plastic seat shell to fit between the arm rest tube and the frame tube. A spacer block 60 is positioned between the end of the arm rest and the frame tubing because the shell lip overhangs the frame tube 61, as shown in the front portion of FIGS. 8 and 9. Weld nuts 62 are attached to the frame tube at the appropriate positions for bolts 63 for attaching the arm rests.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a single passenger longitudinal seat 64 may be carried with its one-piece frame 65. The shell carried by the frame may be a onepiece shell or two pieces as shown, with a separate seat shell 66 and a back shell 67. The frame 65 may be attached to the wall in four places, two.upper projections 68 being provided which may hook over offset plates 69 carried by the wall, and two lower plates 70 may be attached directly to the wall.

If the wall of the car is not sturdy enough to support the entire weight of the seat and passengers, a pedestal may be added to the transverse seat and attached to the extra support tube 36, as shown best in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 Subject matter of this invention which is disclosed but not claimed in this application is claimed in copending, co-owned application Ser. No. 280,793, filed Aug. 15, 1972, and entitled Seat for Urban Mass Transit Vehicles."

While in the foregoing specification we have set out structures in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

l. A cantilever seat adapted to be suspended from one side of a vehicle wall comprising: a frame having a wall rail, an aisle rail and an intermediate rail, each of said rails having an upright back portion and a lower, forwardly-extending seat portion, a front stretcher frame member connecting the distal ends of said seat portions of all of said rails, a rear stretcher member connecting the rear ends of said seat portions of all of said rails, an upper cross frame member connecting the upper ends of said back portions of all of said rails, a first diagonal brace connected at one end to the upper part of the back portion of said wall rail and extending downwardly therefrom andconnected at its other end to a lower part of said back portion of said intermediate rail, a second diagonal brace connected at one end to an upper part of said back portion of said intermediate rail and extending downwardly and connected at its other end to a lower part of said back portion of said aisle rail; and a back and seat shell carried by said frame.

2. The structure of claim 1 further comprising means for mounting said wall rail to a vehicle wall at locations on the forward end of said seat portion of said wall rail, the upper end of said seat portion of said wall rail, and the upper end of said back portion of said wall rail.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said wall rail is formed of metal tubing transversely apertured at each of said wall-mounting locations, and wherein said mounting means includes a shoulder bushing'pressed within each of said apertures, and a bolt fastener received within each of said shoulder bushings for threaded engagement with said wall.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said seat and back shell is a one-piece plastic shell having first and second contoured chair portions, one of said chair por' tions being received between said wall rail and said intermediate rail, and the other of said chair portions being received between said intermediate rail and said aisle rail, said structure further comprising means for attaching said plastic shell to said frame.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein each of said rails is formed from a single piece of tubing and extends downwardly at a slight rearward inclination from their upper ends, and are smoothly curved forwardly to form horizontal seat portions, and wherein said first and second diagonal braced are joined at their lower ends re spectively to said intermediate and wall rails at a tangent to said curved-lower portions and wherein the lower ends of each of said diagonal braces conforms to the curve of the rail to which it is connected.

6. The structure of claim 1 further comprising a reinforcing brace member extending generally parallel to the seat portions of said rails and interconnecting said front and rear stretcher members at locations between said intermediate rail and said aisle rail to strengthen the outer corner of the seat portion of said frame against deflection.

7. A two-passenger seat for a mass transit vehicle comprising: a plastic shell providing a contoured passenger chair portion for two passengers in side-by-side relation; a frame having a'wall rail, an aisle rail, and an intermediate rail, each of said rails being formed from a single tubular member and having an upright back portion, a forwardly extending horizontal seat portion, and a smoothly curved transition portion between said back portion and said seat portion, a front stretcher frame member connecting the front ends of said seat portions of all of said rails, a rear stretcher member connecting all of said rails at a location adjacent the rear ends of said seat portions and having a downwardly depressed center portion extending below and supporting said seat portion of said intermediate rail, an upper cross frame member connecting the upper ends of said back portions of all of said rails, a first diagonal brace plate connected at one end to an upper part of the back portion of said wall rail and extending downwardly and connected at its other end to a lower part of the back portion of said intermediate rail, a second diagonal brace plate connected at one end to an upper part of said back portion of said intermediate rail and extending downwardly and connected at its other end to a lower part of said back portion of said aisle rail, each of said brace plates being located toward the rear of its associated rail members opposite the seating side thereof to accommodate the contour of the back portion of said shell, said depression in said rear stretcher member accommodating the contour of said seat portion of said shell, a reinforcing frame member connected between said front and rear stretcher members adjacent said aisle rail; means for attaching said wall rail to a vehicle wall at a forward position on the seat portion thereof, a rear position adjacent the curved portion thereof, and an upper position adjacent the top of the back portion thereof; and means for fastening said shell to said frame.

8. The structure of claim 7 further comprising an arm rest anchored at one end to the seat portion and at the other end to the back portion of said aisle rail for bracing the same.

a: k k 

1. A cantilever seat adapted to be suspended from one side of a vehicle wall comprising: a frame having a wall rail, an aisle rail and an intermediate rail, each of said rails having an upright back portion and a lower, forwardly-extending seat portion, a front stretcher frame member connecting the distal ends of said seat portions of all of said rails, a rear stretcher member connecting the rear ends of said seat portions of all of said rails, an upper cross frame member connecting the upper ends of said back portions of all of said rails, a first diagonal brace connected at one end to the upper part of the back portion of said wall rail and extending downwardly therefrom and connected at its other end to a lower part of said back portion of said intermediate rail, a second diagonal brace connected at one end to an upper part of said back portion of said intermediate rail and extending downwardly and connected at its other end to a lower part of said back portion of said aisle rail; and a back and seat shell carried by said frame.
 2. The structure of claim 1 further comprising means for mounting said wall rail to a vehicle wall at locations on the forward end of said seat portion of said wall rail, the upper end of said seat portion of said wall rail, and the upper end of said back portion of said wall rail.
 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said wall rail is formed of metal tubing transversely apertured at each of said wall-mounting locations, and wherein said mounting means includes a shoulder bushing pressed within each of said apertures, and a bolt fastener received within each of said shoulder bushings for threaded engagement with said wall.
 4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said seat and back shell is a one-piece plastic shell having first and second contoured chair portions, one of said chair portions being received between said wall rail and said intermediate rail, and the other of said chair portions being received between said intermediate rail and said aisle rail, said structure further comprising means for attaching said plastic shell to said frame.
 5. The structure of claim 1 wherein each of said rails is formed from a single piece of tubing and extends downwardly at a slight rearward inclination from their upper ends, and are smoothly curved forwardly to form horizontal seat portions, and wherein said first and second diagonal braced are joined at their lower ends respectively to Said intermediate and wall rails at a tangent to said curved lower portions and wherein the lower ends of each of said diagonal braces conforms to the curve of the rail to which it is connected.
 6. The structure of claim 1 further comprising a reinforcing brace member extending generally parallel to the seat portions of said rails and interconnecting said front and rear stretcher members at locations between said intermediate rail and said aisle rail to strengthen the outer corner of the seat portion of said frame against deflection.
 7. A two-passenger seat for a mass transit vehicle comprising: a plastic shell providing a contoured passenger chair portion for two passengers in side-by-side relation; a frame having a wall rail, an aisle rail, and an intermediate rail, each of said rails being formed from a single tubular member and having an upright back portion, a forwardly extending horizontal seat portion, and a smoothly curved transition portion between said back portion and said seat portion, a front stretcher frame member connecting the front ends of said seat portions of all of said rails, a rear stretcher member connecting all of said rails at a location adjacent the rear ends of said seat portions and having a downwardly depressed center portion extending below and supporting said seat portion of said intermediate rail, an upper cross frame member connecting the upper ends of said back portions of all of said rails, a first diagonal brace plate connected at one end to an upper part of the back portion of said wall rail and extending downwardly and connected at its other end to a lower part of the back portion of said intermediate rail, a second diagonal brace plate connected at one end to an upper part of said back portion of said intermediate rail and extending downwardly and connected at its other end to a lower part of said back portion of said aisle rail, each of said brace plates being located toward the rear of its associated rail members opposite the seating side thereof to accommodate the contour of the back portion of said shell, said depression in said rear stretcher member accommodating the contour of said seat portion of said shell, a reinforcing frame member connected between said front and rear stretcher members adjacent said aisle rail; means for attaching said wall rail to a vehicle wall at a forward position on the seat portion thereof, a rear position adjacent the curved portion thereof, and an upper position adjacent the top of the back portion thereof; and means for fastening said shell to said frame.
 8. The structure of claim 7 further comprising an arm rest anchored at one end to the seat portion and at the other end to the back portion of said aisle rail for bracing the same. 